Favourite Non-Comedy Short Films
My favourite short films in vague order. Doesn't include comedy shorts like cartoons or Keaton/Chaplin films; that's for another list (otherwise this list would be huge and impossible to vaguely order).
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- DirectorForugh FarrokhzadStarsForugh FarrokhzadEbrahim GolestanHossein MansouriSet in a leper colony in the north of Iran, The House is Black juxtaposes "ugliness", of which there is much in the world as stated in the opening scenes, with religion and gratitude.
- DirectorJan SvankmajerThree surreal depictions of failures of communication that occur on all levels of human society.
- DirectorKenneth AngerStarsCarmilla SalvatorelliA woman dressed in an elegant period dress wanders through the water gardens at the Villa d'Este.
- DirectorChris MarkerStarsÉtienne BeckerJean NégroniHélène ChatelainThe story of a man forced to explore his memories in the wake of World War III's devastation, told through still images.
- DirectorYuri NorsteinStarsAleksandr KalyaginDistant, well-worn memories of childhood are inhabited by a little gray wolf. Through astonishing imagery, the memory of all of Russia is depicted.
- DirectorPatrick BokanowskiStarsJean-Jacques ChoulJacques Delbosc d'AuzonClaus-Dieter ReentsA study of human anxieties about beauty, youth and objectification.
- DirectorJorge FurtadoStarsPaulo JoséCiça ReckziegelDouglas TraininiThe ironic, heartbreaking and acid "saga" of a spoiled tomato: from the plantation of a "Nisei" (Brazilian with Japanese origins); to a supermarket; to a consumer's kitchen to become sauce of a pork meat; to the garbage can since it is spoiled for the consumption; to a garbage truck to be dumped in a garbage dump in "Ilha das Flores"; to the selection of nutriment for pigs by the employees of a pigs breeder; to become food for poor Brazilian people.
- DirectorFernand LégerDudley MurphyStarsKiki of MontparnasseFernand LégerDudley MurphyA pulsing, kaleidoscope of images set to an energetic soundtrack. A young women swings in a garden; a woman's face smiles. The rest is spinning cylinders, pistons, gears and turbines, kitchen objects in concentric circles or rows - pots, pan lids, and funnels, cars passing overhead, a spinning carnival ride. Over and over, a heavy-set woman climbs stairs carrying a large bag on her shoulder. An Art Deco cartoon figure appears, dancing. This is a world in motion, dominated by mechanical and repetitive images, with a few moments of solitude in a garden.
- DirectorJirí BartaUsing an array of gloves in different styles and from different historical periods, the film is a short history of the cinema - from silent movies via pastiches of Buñuel and Fellini and Close Encounters of the Third Kind to a futurist junkyard where tin cans become animated police cars in a city of urban decay.
- DirectorKunio KatoStarsMasami NagasawaTo save his house from rising flood waters, an old man uses bricks to build it higher, then he relives events from his past while searching for his dropped pipe.
- DirectorJames Sibley WatsonMelville WebberStarsHerbert SternHildegarde WatsonMelville WebberAn avant-garde take on Poe's classic story of a traveller taking shelter at a household under a mysterious curse.
- DirectorYuri NorsteinStarsVyacheslav NevinnyyMariya VinogradovaAleksey BatalovA little hedgehog, on the way to visit his friend the bear, gets lost in thick fog, where horses, dogs and even falling leaves take on a terrifying new aspect.
- DirectorJan SvankmajerStarsLudvík SvábBedrich GlaserJan KrausExamines the human relationship with food by showing breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
- DirectorMaya DerenAlexander HammidStarsMaya DerenAlexander HammidA woman returning home falls asleep and has vivid dreams that may or may not be happening in reality. Through repetitive images and complete mismatching of the objective view of time and space, her dark inner desires play out on-screen.
- DirectorJan SvankmajerA human body gradually reconstructs itself as its various component parts crowd themselves into a small room and eventually, after much experimentation, sort out which part goes where.
- DirectorStephen QuayTimothy QuayStarsFeliks StawinskiInside a box full of curio, a puppet who is recently freed from his strings explores a dusty and forlorn commercial area. The explorer becomes ensnared into miniature tailor shop by baby-faced dolls.
- DirectorJirí BartaStarsFrantisek HusákZdenek MartínekIvan VojtekA sarcastic story about a thief who becomes the victim of his own victims. His victims come from the other world and take his most precious possession - his blood. The phantasmal atmosphere of the film is achieved through artificial animation coloring in a motion picture.
- DirectorGuy MaddinStarsLeslie BaisCaelum VatnsdalShaun BalbarA scientist chooses a wealthy man over her two lovers but must heal the earth's core to save humanity.
- DirectorPeter TscherkasskyStarsBarbara HersheyFootage from The Entity (1982) is edited into an abstract nightmare.
- DirectorMan RayStarsKiki of MontparnasseAndré de la RivièreRobert DesnosTwo people stand on a road, out of focus. Seen distorted through a glass, they retire upstairs to a bedroom where she undresses. He says, "Adieu." Images: the beautiful girl, a starfish in a jar, city scenes, newspapers, tugboats. More images: starfish, the girl. "How beautiful she is." Repeatedly. He advances up the stair, knife in hand, starfish on the step. Three people stand on a road, out of focus. "How beautiful she was." "How beautiful she is." "Beautiful."
- DirectorStephen QuayTimothy QuayStarsJoy ConstaninidesWitold SchejbalA porcelain doll and a sleeping woman. How will they interact through her dreams?
- DirectorKenneth AngerStarsKenneth AngerBobby BeausoleilBill BeutelExperimental short, featuring strobe-like erotic imagery with several shots of the Rolling Stones in performance and an original synthesizer score by Mick Jagger.
- DirectorGermaine DulacStarsAlex AllinLucien BatailleGenica AthanasiouObsessed with a general's woman, a clergyman has strange visions of death and lust, struggling against his own eroticism.
- DirectorJirí TrnkaA delicate and secluded ceramist sees his orderly life turn upside down, when a gigantic hand in a white glove invades his space, demanding that a sculpture of itself is made. When will the hand's obstinate demands stop?
- DirectorZbigniew RybczynskiSubsequent characters appear in a poorly-decorated room, intertwining but never colliding, all possessed by never-ending rituals.
- DirectorJirí BartaLaid-off old mannequins spend their cracked and broken lives in an old, abandoned warehouse. New mannequins are brought to the warehouse. They are old as well, but from a younger generation. The two groups must live together, but it's not easy at all.
- DirectorDominique MonferyStarsDora LuzJennifer EspositoSalvador Dalí and Walt Disney's Destino features the tragic love story of Chronos, the personification of time, and a mortal woman as they seek each other out across surreal landscapes.
- DirectorFrédéric BackStarsPhilippe NoiretChristopher PlummerThe story of a shepherd's single handed quest to re-forest a barren valley.
- DirectorStan BrakhageStarsStan BrakhageJane WodeningThe first part of Dog Star Man (1964), an experimental film wherein a man climbs a mountain along with his dog.Includes all the Dog Star Man films
- DirectorWladyslaw StarewiczMr Beetle seeks companionship from a statuesque dragonfly dancer, unaware that her ex-boyfriend, a slender grasshopper and an industrious cameraman, watches their every move. Will Mrs Beetle forgive him? Will he get away with adultery?
- DirectorFrans ZwartjesStarsTrix ZwartjesMikeChristian MandersAn experimental short film in which a man and a woman smear various foods on a third person.
- DirectorKenneth AngerStarsErnie AlloBruce ByronFrank CarifiA gang of Nazi bikers prepares for a race as sexual, sadistic, and occult images are cut together.
- DirectorGarri BardinFilm characters are ordinary matches. Quarrel that flared up over a trifle turns into a real battle, in which both hostile parties perished.
- DirectorPaul SharitsStarsDavid FranksA subversive experimental short film in which the word "Destroy" is uttered constantly while images on an individual are show with changes colors and the letters T,O,U,C,H,I,N,G displayed.
- DirectorJan SvankmajerTwo pieces of meat fall in love.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsVictor AndréBleuette BernonA group of astronomers go on an expedition to the Moon.
- DirectorFerenc RofuszA fine day in the life of a fly presented completely from the fly's point of view. A fine day until something dreary happens, that is.
- DirectorCo HoedemanOn a sandy desert, a man made of sand constructs other sand creatures to help make a beautiful sand castle for themselves.
- DirectorJohn HoffmanSlavko VorkapichA recently unearthed experimental documentary of the crashing sea set to Mendelssohn's "Fingal's Cave." An example of the filmmakers' "new cinema" theory which held that film should be more like music than literature. This film is based solely on its arrangement of images.